Archive for the 'Market Statistics' Category
Welcoming 2010
Don’t worry, we still exist! 
December was a refresh and recharge (and work) month for us, so we decided to leave the blog alone for a bit, as we figured most of you had other things to be doing too.
We were doing real estate during the month though, of varying degrees of importance.
I received several calls from people that are thinking about selling their homes this spring, so I’ve started meeting with them to determine what, if anything, they need to do to make their homes sale ready.
Kyle and I showed lots of properties, helping one buyer find a new home and getting others ready to make the big decision once the right home shows up for them in the spring.
We spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing for various parties and family celebrations. It made me realize just how dysfunctional the current space is; the sink is in the wrong place, there is too much unusable countertop space, the stove doesn’t fit baking sheets in a portrait position. So, it gave us some more things to consider regarding the layout of our future remodeled kitchen.
I found an organization that will be taking away our current kitchen. More on them in a late January post.
We found a new blog about living and working in Downtown Hartford.
I got Kyle a super book that’s an Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail. Further strengthening our position as house dorks.
We reviewed our business accomplishments for 2009, set our goals for 2010, and spent a substantial amount of time working on a new quarterly publication that will be focused on analyzing real estate market data for Hartford County. More on that mid-January.
Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010!
Greater Hartford November 2009 Real Estate Market Statistics
For last month’s market statistics post, I made this statement…”It will be interesting to see the results of November, as I feel they will also show an increase over last year as people try to jam in their closing by the November 30 $8,000 first time buyer tax credit deadline.”
This was of course before we knew that they would be extending the first time buyer credit beyond November. So how did the closing numbers turn out for November? Here’s the latest data from the CT Multiple Listing Service for single family homes, deemed reliable, but not guaranteed…
My Observations…
1. So, it looks like the home buyer certainly motivated people around its original deadline. The number of November 2009 closings was up 50% over the November 2008 closings for the towns surveyed.
2. Newington continues its position as a Seller’s Market (less than 3 months of inventory) for the sixth month in a row. Man, I wish I had a house in Newington to sell… Eleven towns, shaded blue, are Neutral Markets (between 3-6 months of inventory). Five towns, shaded peach, are a Buyer’s Market. Canton is moving very slowly, with over a year of inventory.
Based on the Closed Sale data, it does look like the home buyer credit affected the market in our area. I would expect to see the spring market for 2010 pulled up into the earlier part of the year and expect the summer months to be extremely slow. This doesn’t necessarily mean that overall sales will be down for the year in 2010, just that the market will be shifted and off from its standard seasonal trends.
Greater Hartford October 2009 Real Estate Market Statistics
October is closed out, so here’s the latest data from the CT Multiple Listing Service for single family homes, deemed reliable, but not guaranteed…
My Observations…
1. Overall, the number of Closed Sales are up again, 2.6% this month, when comparing to October 2008. It will be interesting to see the results of November, as I feel they will also show an increase over last year as people try to jam in their closing by the November 30 $8,000 first time buyer tax credit deadline.
2. Median Sale Prices were all over the place comparing October this year to last year. Take a look at Avon, Canton and Farmington. I would say these wide swings in price changes had more to do with the mix of houses selling (high end versus low end), rather than prices actually changing that much. As I’ve mentioned previously, one month of data isn’t very helpful when looking at Median Sale Price changes. The data is more statistically relevant if you look at a quarter or entire year’s worth of data.
3. Months of Inventory continues to tell an interesting story. Newington, shaded green, has been a Seller’s market (less than 3 months of inventory) since June, and remains that way as of today. It will most likely shift to a Neutral market by December, as the seasonal market slows. The cells shaded blue are the towns that are currently a Neutral market (between 3-6 months of inventory). The 6 remaining towns, shaded peach, are Buyer’s markets (6+ months of inventory).